NY Times on NYC Projection Action

Jim Dwyer of the New York Times has a fantastic article about the New York City digital projection action on the Chinese Consulate. Dwyer covers how the action was done, what made it effective, and the ensuing battle with the IOC and YouTube to keep video of the action online.

The pictures were four and five flickering stories high. And for about 25 minutes on the night before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Games, that video, produced by Students for a Free Tibet, looped against the wall of the consulate. The modern Olympics have always been a theater for sport, commerce and politics, tightly controlled by the International Olympic Committee and the host country. This year, there are stages everywhere….

For pure spectacle, it was hard to top the anti-Chinese video that was streamed onto the consulate wall. Giant projections have been used in other protests — in Los Angeles, for instance, critics of the Catholic hierarchy’s handling of sex-abuse allegations streamed pictures onto the cardinal’s residence. The tactic is a linear descendant of the rock and slingshot, with images catapulted into stinging view by a 5,000-lumen projector.

The article goes on to show how SFT pushed back on the removal of the YouTube video of the protest and how we were able to get the video back online.

A few hours later, Mr. Gulotta said, a friend sent him an e-mail message asking if he had taken down the video. He went to YouTube and saw that it had been removed by a “third party” — the International Olympic Committee — on the grounds that the use of the Olympic rings was a copyright infringement.

Mr. Gulotta struck back, filing an appeal to YouTube, arguing that the brief appearance of the rings amounted to “fair use” under copyright standards.

“The I.O.C. was safeguarding China’s image,” Mr. Gulotta said.

Representatives for the Olympic committee did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, but they had previously said that their request to YouTube was made automatically by a software robot that searches for unauthorized uses of the Olympic logo. (Normally, the use of the rings is limited to commercial sponsors who have paid for the right.)

In any event, the video was restored to YouTube this week. “That part of the operation got more attention than the action itself,” Ms. Nirankari said.

So far, no one has tried to prohibit such projections. Ingenious as the tactic is, it does involve hijacking someone’s property, if fleetingly. Mr. Gulotta agreed that the projections had to be used “responsibly,” but he said the Chinese government had it coming. “If any individual had done anything to the level of what the Chinese government has done in Tibet,” he said, “they would actually be inviting this onto themselves.”

This is great coverage and the sort of article that really shows how creative and innovative SFT has become in an effort to bring global attention to China’s brutal, illegal occupation of Tibet while the Olympics are going on. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and you can be sure that SFT will keep finding new ways to bring Tibet into the international spotlight until Tibet is free.

August 14: Video Update

Beijing: Olympics Billboard Banner – August 15, 2008

With the help of three support people, two pro-Tibet activists rapelled from the top of a large Olympic billboard and unfurled a 375 square foot/115 square meter banner in front of Chinese state television’s new headquarters in Beijing early this morning. The activists dropped the banner, which read “Free Tibet” in English and Chinese, over an Olympics billboard reading “Beijing 2008” at 5:45 am Beijing time. Chinese security officials gathered quickly outside the China Central Television (CCTV) building. After approximately 30 minutes, officials detained the five activists, whose current whereabouts are unknown. The two climbers were Nicole Rycroft, 41, a Canadian-Australian from Vancouver, BC, Canada and Philip Kirk, 24, a British citizen from Hertfordshire, UK. They were supported by Americans Bianca Bockman, 27, from Hoboken, New Jersey, Sam Maron, 22, from Ossining, New York, and Kelly Osborne, 39, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. See more detailed bios below. (more...)

Olympic Cyclist Cadel Evans Speaks Out on Tibet

Australian cyclist Cadel Evans has flown out of the Beijing Olympics today after voicing his opinion on the situation in Tibet. Evans, who finished fifth in the men’s road cycling individual time trial yesterday is an outspoken supporter of a free Tibet.

The Tour de France runner-up has been widely shown wearing “Free Tibet” slogans on his racing gear and has a link on his website to another site where people can buy pro-Tibet merchandise.
He complied with International Olympic Committee protocols during the Games to leave political protest out of the Olympics, keeping his views on Tibet quiet until he flew out today.

“It’s a sad situation and I think similar to what happened with the Australian Aborigines,” Evans told the Seven Network.

(more…)

Hyderabad Lights a candle for Tibet

At a time when Tibetan people and supporters of thr Tibetan cause gathered to light a candle for Tibet, Hyderabad too was on the move.
Students For A Free Tibet,as part of its festival of protests,with other Tibet support groups organised a candle light vigil at Indiira Park at 18.30 pm.
Tibetan people and local residents of Hyderabad gathered to condemn the illegal occupation of Tibet by the Chineese forces. Tying an orange ribbon on her hand, Tsamchoe, a research scholar at the Central University of Hyderabad and a member of Students for A Free Tibet commented that " all freedom loving people from diverse nationalities should unite to combat China's attrocites on Tibetan people".
Candle for Tibet did provide an oppurtunity for uniting people and was a spectacle, not to be missed,
After series of prayers and speeches, a 3 metre long candle was lighted by Dr. MN Rajesh, a specialist on Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Studies.
The lighting of the candle was followed by Indian and Tibetan national Anthem. While people lit candles the place was filled with slogans like "Tibet ki Azaadi, Bharat ki Suraksha", "UNO we want justice" ,"One World, One Dream, Free Tibet". "Say Yes To Freedom In Tibet".

Certainly it was an evening to remember.